Weight Loss, Diet and Fitness Program

Most of us have heard about fasting and know what it means, but very few have experienced it and the health benefits it can provide.
We are not recommending that you do a fast - that is up to you. We are just providing information gathered from other’s experiences on this subject to encourage you to research and make your own fact-based decisions.

Many of us have heard of fasting in religious or spiritual connotations. People in ancient times fasted to clear their thinking and seek inspiration and enlightenment on important life issues and many who do fast report feeling more spiritual and farther removed from the physical reality. However, one should be armed with good info and a strong sense of purpose - mental attitude is half the battle.
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Wave goodbye to treadmills, weights and regimented exercise programs and get in shape in your own backyard. You don’t need a gym to keep you fit and sexy if you have a garden.
The fitness gospel has long preached the virtues of exercising in sweaty gyms and ugly Lycra, but there is another option. Experts agree that a regular dose of gardening promotes a sense of well-being, raises your fitness levels and makes you look sexy.

According to Dr. Steven Palmer, Director of the Center for Stress Management and a professor at City University, gardening is an excellent form of stress management and therapy. Dr. Alison Joy, a physician, agrees. She says, “People love gardening and there’s very little injury involved”.
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For some people being on a diet means being tired and lethargic. It’s times like these that some people may be more likely to reach for chips, chocolate or soda. However, these types of foods are absorbed so quickly by the body that it causes your body to think that it has run out of fuel soon after eating them and it’s not long before you begin to crave more of these snacks again. Often these foods offer a quick rush of energy, however they don’t help the body deal with the cause of energy deprivation.

The key, therefore, in dealing with the lack of energy that many people experience when they are dieting is to provide the body with all of the right elements needed to support the body and give it the energy that it needs.
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With all the talk of high protein diets, you could be forgiven for believing we need to eat four eggs for breakfast, a large can of tuna for lunch and a whole chicken or side of beef for dinner. We do need protein for development and growth, and repair and maintenance of muscles and other tissues. But it is easy to meet your daily protein requirements. All you need is 0.75g per kg of your body weight.
So, if you weight 65kg you need 49g – that’s only five foods daily from the list below. Children and teenagers need one gram per kilogram of body weight. Strength and endurance athletes need around double that. Pregnant and breastfeeding women need 6g and 16g respectively.
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Westcott and Feigenbaum recommend that preadolescents perform six to 12 different strength exercises each training session. The program should address all the major muscle groups, and kids should progress from the larger muscle groups to the smaller ones, in the same way adults do. Kids can improve strength whether they use free weights (dumbbells) or resistance machines (either youth-sized or adult-sized). For more information, see Strength and Power for Young Athletes by Faigenbaum and Westcott or consult with a personal trainer who specializes in kid’s strength training.

Training Guidelines At a Glance
Although strength-training recommendation for adults and children are similar in many ways, there are differences, especially when it comes to sets and repetitions. Use the following information as a general guideline. For a specific program, seek the help of a qualified fitness instructor or personal trainer. Read more!

Surprise – kids actually enjoy working out with light weights!
Do you want your kids to grow strong muscles and bones, shed fat and build self-confidence? Are you looking for an activity that will excite an overweight child about the joys of exercise? Strength training could be just the right activity to turn your son or daughter from a couch potato into a slim, trim former spud!

The IDEA Health & Fitness Association asked two fitness experts to sound off on the benefits and possible pitfalls of youth strength training: Wayne L. Westcott, PhD, fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, and an advisor to Nautilus Health & Fitness group; and Avery D. Faigenbaum, EdD, associate professor of exercise science and physical education at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Read more!

With childhood obesity rates soaring, perhaps the greatest gift you can give your children is the “gift” of good health. It’s no mystery why children today are fatter than in years past – their consumption of fat and sugar has steadily increased while their physical activity has drastically decreased.

The implications of this steady weight gain are formidable. Overweight children are more vulnerable to high blood pleasure, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea, asthma and bone and joint problems. Researchers have found evidence of fatty streaks – the beginning of hardening of the arteries – in the blood vessels of overweight children as young as five. And a 1996 study at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio found that the percentage of overweight children with type II diabetes had increased tenfold in only two years. What’s more, without intervention, overweight children are likely to become overweight adults. The toll on our health care system could be devastating. Read more!

Following the FIBER, The Forgotten Fat-Buster on Women Diary, we continue to answer some question of how much fiber is best to consume.
The proposed new fiber terms are not expected to significantly influence recommended intake levels, although the IOM’s Food and Nutrition Board has developed adequate intakes (AI) for total fiber consumption. Men aged 14 to 50 years should get 38 grams of total fiber per day, and women aged 19 to 50 years should get 25 grams per day.
Men and women over the age of the 50 are advised to consume 30 and 21 grams per day, respectively. Read more!

Zellweger’s weight gain methods are nothing to emulate as well, says a Calgary nutritionist. “A diet high in trans fats, such as doughnuts and desserts, is never a good idea,” says Jane Rose, an adviser for Trym Gym, a weight loss and healthy living program offered by the University of Calgary. “Once you have done the damage to the blood vessels it’s very hard to undo it.” The fats and overall bad eating can clog the arteries and damage the blood vessels irreversibly. “I would sure like to see how Zellweger’s blood vessels are looking after all the weight loss and gain,” says Rose.

With extra weight comes extra fat cells, which don’t disappear after the pounds do, adds Calgary-based dietitian Kelly Anne Erdman. “Once you have a fat cell, it’s there for life,” says Erdman, who works at the University of Calgary’s Sport Medicine Centre. Those fat cells will fill up more easily the second time around and with the proper incentive – in other words, a lousy diet and overeating, she says. Read more!

Blast from the past: Oh, how she suffers for her art.

Actress Renee Zellweger gained and then lost a reported 30 pounds, twice over, to play Bridget Jones, the pudgy and romantically challenged London thirty-something. For her reprisal of the frustrated singleton in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the 35-year-old went from a size 6 to a size 14 on a diet of hamburgers, doughnuts, protein shakes and sugar-laden desserts. Months later, she was back down to her trim and thin self.

But, with all that self-imposed suffering, even for her art, Zellweger’s plan is not a good example of balanced living, say health and wellness experts. And, worse yet, they say the actress may be doing long-term and hidden harm to her body. Read more!

Knowing what drives you to overeat reduces the risk of regaining weight, but it still won’t help you with saggy skin. For that, you need a cosmetic surgeon.
Dr. Jaggi Rao, a dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon who works with dermatologist Dr. Janice Liao, does a lot of liposuction for people who have lost weight. About 15 to 25 percent currently embrace surgery and the number continues to grow with the popularity of the Atkins diet and the interest in getting healthier.

The most common lipoed site for men and women is the abdomen, where as much as five pounds of fat can be suctioned off per session.
The ideal patient is someone who has stabilized their weight loss and is kind of fit, but has been unable to lose fat in certain localized, gravity-dependent, areas, Rao says. Read more!

Most women have it – those unsightly bumps and ripples that make wearing a swimsuit totally traumatic! Cellulite.
Is there anyone who actually likes having these ripply, dimply deposits on our thighs and derrieres? We thought not! And the world “cellulite” only makes these bumps and ripples sound exotic – it’s actually plain ol’ fat deposits that give your lower body an unslightly appearance. The fact that skin in these areas is thin and delicate because it is not often exposed to the sun is the reason this stored fat takes on its characteristic “orange peel”-like texture.

Cellulite is nothing new. Dr. James Fleming, a British doctor who has written extensity about this subject, notes that “it is only recently that women have started to wear fewer clothes and so make the cellulite more noticeable. Oil paintings done around the time of the renaissance show the lumpy skin of women then, just as it is possible to see it now.” Read more!

That’s not to say there’s no difference between workouts that burn a greater percentage of fat vs. those that burn a greater percentage of carbs. To help you choose the right option, let’s take a look at the pros and cons.

First, low-intensity fat-burning exercise is the preferred choice for novice exercisers and those with medical concerns that discourage exercising at an elevated pace or effort. Not only is it easier on the joints and muscles, it delays fatigue, which allows you to exercise longer. But compared to more vigorous exercise, the calorie burn of low-intensity exercise is sluggish. To counteract this slow burn, exercisers need to work out longer if they hope to lose weight. Read more!

To be successful as the dieters spotlighted here, you’ll need to know how to diet right! Here are ten real world “Do’s” and ten real world “Don’ts” that will help you on the winning track.

DO…
1. Monitor your progress. Weighing yourself once a week, logging your food and activity, and monthly sessions with a tape measure record your progress to keep you motivated.
2. Choose to eat healthful, wholesome foods from all the food groups. That’s the only way you’re getting the essential nutrients you need.
3. Exercise. While a recommended goal for weight loss is about an hour a day of moderate activity, anything more than what you’re doing now is a plus. Read more!

True, none of us want unsightly bumps and ripples on our butts and/or thighs. But cellulite isn’t all bad! That’s the word from the London Daily Mirror newspaper, which recently came up with some positive aspects of having this common problem:

You’re more likely to become a mom. The presence of cellulite proves that your body is not over-producing the male hormone testosterone – and that happy fact means you are more likely to be fertile and conceive a child easily when the time is right.

Your skin should be (almost) baby-soft. The relative absence of testosterone also means you are, or likely to have soft skin, and less likely to have facial hair or acne. Read more!